The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1886.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 7987, 11 October 1886, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1886.

Grumblings have sometimes been heard that Sir Dillon Bell does not dine out as often as an Agent-General should, that he avoids festivities of all kinds overmuch, and banquets almost altogether. It must be admitted that the digestion of an ostrich and the absorbing powers of Mynheer van Dunk would be useful qualities in a Colonial Agent-General during the present year of grace. But Sir Francis Bell has the right,to live, and we are certainly not going to complain of so excellent an Agent-General because he shows some carefulness for his health. If we were to grumble at Sir Francis it would be because he did not stay at home more often than he did in July last. It was indeed unlucky that on one of the few occasions on which he did make a public appearance and speech Sir Francis should have said too much. Perhaps had he kept himself in better practice for after-dinner speaking he might have been more reticent. Be that as it may, at the banquet of the Drapers' Company, to which we have referred on a former occasion, he made a statement which calls for contradiction. Sir Francis was that enviable person—the guest of the evening; and he had just received the freedom of the City in a " chased golden box." No wonder that geniality reigned supreme, and that Sir Francis was inclined to be glowing as he enlarged on that very big subject, the Federation of the Empire. He informed his hearers that those of his New Zealand fellow - colonists who were engaged in public affairs were determined not to agree to any proposal which should in any form interfere with the unity of the Empire under the same flag and the same crown. This remark—which was received with cheers —was, if not exactly original, at anyrate perfectly unexceptionable. It was quite the kind of thing Sir Francis might have been expected to say and to be cheered for saying, and which we trust will be said and cheered many hundred times in the future as it has bef>n in the past. But the next sentence of the speech was as much less wise as it was less of a platitude. Sir Francis stated, on behalf of the New Zealanders aforesaid, that "they were ready to take their part in Imperial defence when the Imperial Government had determined what their contribution ought to be." If, however, by Colonists engaged in public affairs, Sir Frrocis referred to the Government and the General Assembly, he undoubtedly said exactly the wrong thing when he described them as filled with any such definite determination. Nothing could well have been more precisely incorrect. Our Government and General' Assembly did, indeed, make up their minds some time ago on the

question of harbour defence, and did put the work in hand. But as to our share in the general defence of the Empire, whether by land or sea, neither Government nor the G-eneral Assembly has come to any determination. It has not even expressed an opinion which could by any stretch of language be called definite. It is true to say that whenever the subject of Imperial Defence has cropped up, the House has shown a good deal of well-marked caution. All that the Agent-General could have correctly said is, that there exists in the Colony a general feeling that Imperial Defence is a matter of real importance; that the Colonies have duties in relation to it; that when the time comes for its discussion, it should be discussed unselfishly, and on its merits. But to suggest, or to flatly say, that our Parliament in only waiting to hear what is to be our contribution to give it is altogether contrary to fact.

The suicide of an unfortunate schoolmaster, who drowned himself at Onehunga bridge the other day, has something unusually painful about it. If the statements made by friends, since his decease, are to be believed, the poor man was tormented to death by the horror of an unjust and unfounded charge then hanging over his head. The accusation made against him, by certain of his pupils, was assuredly of the kind likely to drive an innocent man half distracted. At the same time, an innocent man, however nervously sensitive, should have sufficient solf-command not to go on brooding over horrible charges until they madden him. Volition is the last thing a man should trifle with under any circumstances. The temptation to recur to some agonising, haunting thought is often almost irresistible to men in real or fancied distress, but " that way madness lies." On Grurr's real innocence or guilt we can express no opinion, nor is there the least necessity for our doing so. It seems almost incredible that such a charge should have been made by young children unless there had been some foundation for it. On the other hand, instances of such childish depravity are not altogether unprecedented. The lies told by children in police courts are often remarkable for their ingenuity. But whether the charges made at Onehunga were true or false, that does not interfere with the deduction we draw from this wretched business. This is that the State schoolmasters throughout the Colony ought to consider this case. Gurr complained, rightly or wrongly, that undue publicity had been given to the accusation against him, that the story had been noised abroad, had gone about the Colony, and that his character was as good as gone before his case had been decided upon. Now, men who are masters in schools where pupils of both sexes are taught are always liable to have unfounded charges of this nature brought against them by depraved and vindictive children and parents. We have over and over again been shown the lengths to which children will go, who have been punished, and who bear a grudge against the master for punishing them. It is notorious, too, that some parents are only too ready to encourage their children in the attempt to revenge themselves on their teachers. There are some charges the very rumour of whose making will put a school teacher under a cloud. What ought to be done is to make clear rules for conducting the preliminary enquiry into such cases. Every conceivable precaution should be taken to ensure secrecy until the matter is decided upon: Otherwise those good natured and profoundly wise people to be found everywhere will insist upon it that where there is smoke there must also be fire. This is a matter which certainly concerns both the honour and interest of the teaching profession.